Buoy

ABSTRACT

A BUOY HAVING A BODY COMPRISING A SHELL OF PLASTIC MATERIAL WHICH IS SHATTER RESISTANT AND WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY UNAFFECTED BY LIGHT IN THE ULTRAVIOLET BAND OF THE RADIANT ENERGY SPECTRUM. A BALLAST MEMBER IS LOCATED ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SHELL UNDER A MASS OF PERMANENTLY BUOYANT PLASTIC FOAM.

March 9, 1971 J. RUDELICK 3,568,228 BUOY John Rudelick, RolyanManufacturing Co., Inc,

4765 N. 32nd St., Milwaukee, Wis. 53209 Filed Jan. 13, 1969, Ser. No.790,532 Int. Cl. B63] 21/52 U.S. Cl. 98 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A buoy having a body comprising a shell of plastic materialwhich is shatter resistant and which is substantially unaffected bylight in the ultraviolet band of the radiant energy spectrum. A ballastmember is located on the bottom of the shell under a mass of permanentlybuoyant plastic foam.

This invention relates to buoys such as are used as marine markers andfor mooring boats, and it has more particular reference to the provisionof an improved mooring buoy which not only meets the requirements of therecently adopted uniform marking system, but which features a degree ofdependability hitherto unheard of.

Accordingly, the purposes of this invention are to provide a buoy havinga vertically elongated body comprised of a shell of plastic materialwhich is virtually shatterproof and susbtantially unaffected by light inthe ultraviolet band of the solar spectrum, and which also contains ofmass of permanently buoyant material to preserve buoyancy despiteleakage of water into its interior.

In a more specific sense, it is a purpose of this invention to provide abuoy having the characteristics set forth in the preceding paragraph,and which is particularly well suited for the mooring of boats.

With these observations and objects in mind, the manner in which theinvention achieves its purpose will be appreciated from the followingdescription and the accompanying drawing. This disclosure is intendedmerely to exemplify the invention. The invention is not limited to theparticular structure disclosed, and changes can be made therein whichlie within the scope of the appended claims without' departing from theinvention.

The drawing illustrates one complete example of the physical embodimentof the invention constructed accor ing to the best mode so far devisedfor the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

The single figure illustrates a mooring buoy embodying the principles ofthis invention, portions thereof being broken away and shown in section.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing the numeral 5 generallydesignates the body of the mooring buoy of this invention. It has an eyeor loop 6 at its bottom to provide for attachment to the buoy of ananchor line or chain (not shown) and a similar eye or loop 7 is providedat its top to enable attachment to the buoy of a mooring line (notshown).

The body of the buoy is vertically elongated and comprises a pear shapedshell of a plastic material which is virtually shatterproof andsubstantially unaffected by ultraviolet light. One such plastic materialhaving these desired properties is a polymer comprised of threemonomers, namely acrylonitrile-butadiene and styrene, and generallyknown as an ABS plastic from the initials of its three monomers.

This material can be manufactured with an ultraviolet inhibitinglaminated acrylic film on that surface thereof which is to be exposed tosunlight, to render the material immune to the otherwise deleteriouseffects of light in the ultraviolet band of the solar spectrum; and itis United States Patent 0 3,568,228 Patented Mar. 9, 1971 that type ofUV. inhibited ABS plastic that is used in the body of the buoy of thisinvention.

The pear shaped shell has a head 8 that extends continuously around itsexterior at its greatest diameter, and it is comprised of complementarytop and bottom hollow body sections 9 and 10, respectively. Flatwisemating circumferential flanges 11 are welded together all around thebuoy to produce a fluid tight joint between the sections. A bumper 12 ofrubber-like soft plastic material encircles and confines the flanges andcooperates therewith to provide the bead 8. While the flanges 11 can besolvent welded to join the top and bottom body sections, dielectricwelding of the flanges would be a faster and better way to secure themtogether.

The bottom section 10 is outwardly convex in shape, being in the form ofa shallow bowl having one of the flanges 11 at its rim. Its centerportion is indented upwardly, as at 13 for a plurality of reasons. Firstof all, the indentation provides a pocket in which the anchor lineattaching eye 6 is nested. No portion of the eye 6 extends below a planenormal to the axis of the bowl shaped bottom section 10 and passingthrough the junction 14 between the convex bottom wall and the annularside Wall 15 of the indentation. Consequently, the junction 14 in effectdefines a flat base for the buoy, upon which it can be supported attimes when it is not in the water.

The indentation also provides a short upright post having a flat top 16,the side wall 15 of which is conically surfaced and coaxial with thebottom section 10. The pur pose of the post is to accurately locate aballast member 17 within the bottom portion of the bottom body section10.

The ballast member 17 is an annulus, preferably made of iron and as acasting, so that the ballast members for all the mooring buoys of onesize made in accordance with this invention will be identical in weightand shape. Not only is the ballast member 17 cast with a central holetapered to closely fit over the upwardly convergent side wall 15 of theindentation 13, but its bottom is also formed to have the same convexcurvature as the bottom section 10. It will thus be seen that theballast member is nicely nested in the hollow bottom portion of thebody, and that it closely surrounds the indentation 13 to be accuratelypositioned thereby.

The ballast member 17 provides a stabilizing weight which is heavyenough to hold the bottom section 10 of the buoy submerged up to thebead 8. The head can thus be used as a reference means which, when at orslightly above water level, gives visual assurance that the requiredheight of buoy above the head is afloat and exposed to view. I

The top section 9* of the body has an axial dimension roughly threetimes that of the bottom section 10. It also has an upwardly convergentside wall 18 that terminates in a flat top wall 19 having a diameteronly about one-third that of the buoy at the periphery of its bead 8.

Immovably confined within the body to form a part thereof is apermanently buoyant mass 20 of closed cell urethane foam. The foam mass20 extends completely across the buoy at its widest part, namely at thehead 8 defined by the flanged joint between the top and bottom bodysections; and it extends for a distance both above and below said joint.Consequently an upper peripheral portion of the foam mass 20'18 engagedby the upwardly convergent wall 18 of the upper body section 9 adjacentto the bead 8, and a lower peripheral portion of the foam mass isengaged by the downwardly convex side wall of the bowl shaped bottomsection 10. Because the foam mass is thus engaged by body wall portionsof the buoy that converge in opposite axial directions away from thehead 8, it is securely anchored in place in the buoy, againstdisplacement transversely as well as vertically of the body of the buoy.

As seen, the foam mass 20 can extend down onto the ballast member 17 tohelp hold the latter in place and against movement relative to the bodyof the buoy. The foam mass can also be relied upon to hold a'tie rod 24assembled with the buoy. The tie rod 24 extends vertically through thecenter of the buoy and it is embedded in the mass 20 of foam therein. Itis preferably fabricated from a long piece of round section bar stockbent double to provide parallel opposite stretches 25 joined by loops ateach end thereof, with the loops providing the anchor and mooring lineattaching eyes 6 and 7 mentioned earlier. The upper and lower endportions of the stretches 25 project through narrow slits 26 in the topand bottom portions of the body. A cross bar 27 welded to the tie rodand embedded in the mass 20 of cellular material helps hold the tie rodin place, and it also preferably joins the ends of the rod in onestretch 25 thereof.

The mass of cellular buoyant material can be premolded to fit theinterior of the body, with the tie rod and its cross bar in place in thepremolded mass. This, of course, requires assembly of the top and bottombody sections to the foam mass. Alternatively, the buoyant mass 20 canbe formed by mixing urethane with a foaming agent and pouring themixture into the interior of the assembled top and bottom body sections,onto the ballast member and around the tie rod, through the top slit 26,to a depth at least a short distance above the bead 8 at the junctionbetween the body sections.

In either event, the mass of closed cell buoyant material 20 could, ifdesired, be made to fill the entire interior of the body to thus assureagainst ingress of water thereinto through any holes that it may acquireas the result of vandalism or by persons with rifles or pistols usingthe buoy as a target.

If the urethane and a foaming agent is to be poured into the interior ofthe body, the bottom slit 26- must be closed by a piece of gummed tape28 applied to the horizontal wall 16 from the interior of the body,before the top and bottom body sections are secured together. A gummedclosure disc 29 can also be applied to the exterior of the top wall 19to close the slit 26 therein. If the foam mass is produced by pouringurethane into the body, the disc 29 is applied after the pouringoperation is completed.

When the buoyant mass 20 only partially fills the bottom of the buoy, asshown, a number of drain holes 30 are formed in the side wall 18 of theupper body section, at the level of the surface 31 of the buoyant mass20. Thus, if for any reason Water may leak into the space in the bodyabove the buoyant mass, as at times when the buoy is temporarilysubmerged, such water will be able to leave the body as soon as it isagain afloat with substantially only its bottom section submerged.

The confinement of the cellular or foam mass 20 within the buoy, asdescribed, -is-one ofthe more important features of the buoy of thisinvention. Because of its permanently buoyant nature, the buoy of thisinvention is rendered substantially unsinkable.

From the foregoing description, together with the accompanying drawing,it Will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this inventionprovides a virtually unsinkable buoy which features dependability to adegree hitherto impossible to attain.

What is claimed as my invention is:

1. A buoy, characterized by:

(A) a vertically elongated body having a generally convex bottomportion, and comprising a permanently buoyant mass of cellular material;

(B) means embedded in said mass of cellular material providing foranchoring the buoy as well as for mooring a boat thereto, comprising anelongated rigid member which extends vertically through the buoy;

(C) means on the exterior of said rigid member disposed in laterallyoffset relation to the exterior thereof to have interlocking engagementwith surrounding portions of said mass of buoyant material and therebymaintain the rigid member against lengthwise displacement relative tothe body;

(D) and a ballast member on the bottom of the body, fixed with respectto said rigid member, and shaped in correspondence with said convexbottom portion of the body. 1

2. The buoy of claim 1, further characterized by:

(A) said laterally ofiset means on the rigid member comprising a metalcross bar embedded in the mass vof cellular material;

(B) and said rigid member comprising a metal tie rod having spacedparallel stretches extending vertically through the body and terminatingin attaching eyes at the opposite ends of the body, both stretches ofthe rod being secured to the cross bar by welds, and one of said weldsjoining the extremities of th bar from which the tie rod is made. I

References Cited MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner S. W. WEINRIEB,Assistant Examiner

